The CBC’s project to revitalise its offering in Vancouver is nearly complete, with a major revamp of its local website and a relaunch of its evening TV news show.

Vancouver is the testbed for the myCBC project and this is now been extended to other regional hubs across the country.

A key element of the initiative is to build closer ties with the community by offering opportunities for citizen-generated content. So the website has a new section called Your Story to showcase photos, video and other material from the public.

CBC staffers are pleased with how this part of the site is working, as it is generating video that has made its way on air.

But another element of the project is faring less well. This is a section called Your Community, designed as a place for communities to share information about what’s going on in their areas.

The section is far from buzzing with activity, quite the opposite. Compared to Your Story, Your Community is moribund. As Tod Maffin explains:

It’s early days for this page. The web team is working on ways to encourage groups to use it.

The challenge facing CBC is a familiar one. Others have tried creating a space for community and have found that the “build it and they will come” approach does not work.

In 2003, the BBC created iCan, later relaunched as the Action Network as an online platform for grassroots civic engagement. But the service never really took off.

As the CBC is finding in Vancouver, building community online is tough. At the moment, there is no compelling reason to go and take part in the discussion on the Your Community section. What benefit does a user derive from participating? Why should anyone care?

As a first step, CBC could start by identifying leaders in the community and encourage them to be active on the site, thus attracting like-minded individuals. To build community, you have to be in the community.

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